Confinement Versus Exile
Returning to Shanghai presents a messy choice. Confinement in China versus exile overseas. In the end, I’ve chosen Option A.
Thank you for all your private messages of concern. It has been quite an agonising decision to make, especially with the UK Government’s damagingly alarmist approach. But Shanghai is my home. So in the end my choice was easy.
And after all, self-quarantine won’t be very different from my normal #ManCaveLife.
For the LinkedIn version, see here.
Who's That Boy?
I first stepped foot in Asia exactly 20 years ago, for a one-year adventure teaching English in Western Japan. The boy in this photo is still on his adventure.
私はちょうど20年前にアジアに足を踏み入れました，西日本で英語を教える1年間の冒険でした。この写真の中の少年はまだ冒険中です。
20年前，我第一次踏上亚洲，在日本西部进行为期一年的英语教学。这张照片中的男孩还在冒险。
totaLly teamLab
We went in search of some festive illuminations, and boy did we find them.
Here’s wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!
For the Instagram version, see here.
Hotel in a Quarry
I visited the new Intercontinental Hotel, built into the side of a disused quarry. There are only two floors above ground, the rest is underground, and the lowest floor (B15) is underwater.
The whole thing is beautiful and bizarre in equal measure.
For the Instagram version, see here.
8 Tips for Solo Travelers
Maybe you’ve been sent away on a business trip without your family. Maybe you’ve dreamed about traveling solo but have been afraid to try it out. Having recently returned from a trip to the Persian Gulf, an area totally new to me, I honed in on 8 key tips for solo travelers. Please let me know what I’ve left out!
Tip 1. Do what you want. There are some destinations where you might feel pressured to ‘tick off’ a sight or an experience. “What, you went all the way to Paris and didn’t see the Mona Lisa?” Agree graciously and ignore.
Tip 2. Keep your opinions to yourself. Listen. Look. Absorb. Sometimes your opinion about a place only ‘settles’ many weeks after you’ve returned. So make a mental note of your first impressions, but don’t always trust your initial instincts.
Tip 3. Dip in and out of your comfort zone. If you hate haggling, still force yourself to the souq and try to get a good bargain on some dates. Then reward yourself by finding a Starbucks and buying your regular flat white. Go easy on yourself.
Tip 4. Don’t just watch the international news channels in your hotel room. Flick through some of the local channels. It might also help to remind you that your international colleagues have been speaking with you in a second language. Bask in some good old humility and confusion.
Tip 5. Wear layered, inconspicuous clothing. Change out of your business clothes and leave all your emerald tiaras in the hotel safe.
Tip 6. Eat. Everything.
Tip 7. Take to the city on foot. Walk down main streets. Sometimes walk down quieter parallel streets. Use common sense with safety. And look both ways when crossing streets, even if it’s supposed to be one-way.
Tip 8. Wear headphones when necessary. If you’re nervous in new environments, headphones create a personal barrier which can add an element of ‘unapproachability’ in confronting surroundings. But use this strategy sparingly, you don’t want to comes across as arrogant or hostile.
Abu Dhabi: See here for the YouTube version, and here for the Facebook version.
Bahrain: See here for the YouTube version, and here for the Facebook version.
Kuwait: See here for the YouTube version.
Qatar: See here for the YouTube version, and here for the Facebook version.
Oman, See here for the YouTube version, and here for the Facebook version.
